TORONTO — The Rays knew, obviously, they weren’t going to win them all.
Winning their first 13 games was historic as it was, matching the modern-day record to start a season, shared by the 1982 Braves and 1987 Brewers.
How they did so was even more impressive, with an overwhelming offense, precise pitching and dazzling defense that led to a remarkable run that thrust them into the national spotlight.
All of which made it — relatively — disappointing Friday when they lost out on a chance to stand alone with a 14th straight victory by playing their worst overall game in a 6-3 loss to the Blue Jays.
“Losing still sucks,” starting pitcher Drew Rasmussen said. “It’s one of those things that, just the way we lost, is a little bit frustrating.”
They Rays lost because:
• Rasmussen wasn’t sharp, allowing eight hits and, more annoying to him, four walks in four-plus innings, needing 93 pitches to get 13 outs.
• Reliever Colin Poche had an admittedly “embarrassing” outing, walking in back-to-back runs on nine pitches.
• Shortstop Wander Franco and second baseman Brandon Lowe, somewhat inexplicably, botched a potential inning-ending double play that allowed two runs to score.
• And an offense that had been averaging nearly eight runs per game was held to three, two on solo homers after they were down by five.
“It sucks that happened in the midst of everything that was going on,” Lowe said. “But it happened. It’s done. We got 140-plus more games to play. And let’s not dwell on one loss.”
They had a lot to be proud of.
The 13 wins eclipsed the franchise record for consecutive wins at any point of a season (12 by the 2004 team) and matched the second-longest streak all-time in major-league play, behind only the suddenly famous 1884 St. Louis Maroons, who won their first 20 during the one year of Union Association play.
“I’m appreciating it right now,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “I’m really impressed by what I just watched for two weeks. When you’re talking about a team from 1884, you’re doing something pretty cool. So I’m very, very impressed.”
Rasmussen, who posted 13 scoreless innings over his first two starts, took the blame, putting the Rays in a hole by allowing a homer to George Springer on his second pitch and allowing 12 of the 23 batters he faced to reach base.
“It’s my job to set the tone, so that falls on me,” he said. “Just the lack of competitiveness, four walks in four innings just can’t happen. And it’s just a frustrating way — it’s one of those things that this team was on such a good streak, all I had to do was fill (the strike zone) up and trust our defense, and I was unable to execute that (Friday).”
The game separated in a messy fifth, as the Jays expanded their lead from 2-1 to 6-1.
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Rasmussen opened it by allowing singles to Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (which Franco whiffed on), then walking Daulton Varsho to load the bases. He struck out Matt Chapman before Cash opted for Poche.
That turned out to be a bad move, as Poche walked pinch-hitter Alejandro Kirk on four pitches to force in one run and Santiago Espinal on five (a first-pitch strike, followed by four balls) to add another run.
“It’s embarrassing, to be honest,” Poche said. “The most frustrating part is they didn’t beat me, it was all self-inflicted.”
Things got worse when Danny Jansen hit a grounder to Franco that should have been an inning-ending double play, but Lowe missed the throw, allowing two more runs to score.
“It just got away, a whole mix of different things,” Lowe said. “It’s something that needs to get made.”
Still, 13-1 isn’t a bad way to start a season.
“Absolutely,” Lowe said. “Thirteen straight, winning the way that we did, it’s great. I think probably everyone knew that 162-0 was probably out of the question. But it was a great run. Best thing about losing a streak is you just start a new one. So, be ready to show up tomorrow and start a new streak.”
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